


Edge of the sea

by armethaumaturgy



Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Birds, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Developing Relationship, Esper is a merman, Hurt/Comfort, Lusa is also a merman but he appears for like a paragraph or two lmao, M/M, and Masi is a bird..man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 06:31:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9110710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armethaumaturgy/pseuds/armethaumaturgy
Summary: “Are you fish really this territorial?”“I’m not a fish, I’m a merman!”The avian chuckles, as if he’d expected nothing less. “Yes, yes, I can see that. Why are you so protective of this place, though? Do you do this with everyone, or do you just not like me being here?”Esper falls silent. He must admit that having another person to talk to would be nice, even if they were someone like this bird, just swooping into his territory out of nowhere. The territorial part of him still screams, concerned for all the fish around, but he decides to give this bird a chance. For now.“No, I just… don’t like your rudeness. Is it normal for birds to just come into someone’s place and act at home?”“I’m not a bir—” Esper grins devilishly, eyes sparkling as the avian catches himself, eyes narrowing. He obviously fights with himself before his next words. “Join me for lunch.”





	

Wind swishes past, cold and fast, whistling in almost a tune. The blue expanse of the sky stretching far and wide, only marred by fluffy, cotton candy-like clouds here and there in small clumps. It’s a beautiful day for a hunt.

Masi dives head first, leaving behind the sight of the blue sky for the equally as blue sea, waves shimmering in the sunlight like the most precious of metals.

His lengthy wings folded back, he falls rapidly, nothing more than a blur to anyone looking from afar. Sharp eyes scan the surface of water, waiting for an unlucky fish that decides to swim too close to it.

Gravity pulls, and Masi falls faster, hair fluttering as much as his feathers.

There!

Barely a moment before hitting the surface, he pulls back, just skimming the cold waves with his beak. He glides along the water, only dipping down once to take ahold of the indeed unlucky fish, and then he takes off again, flaps of his wings sending the water splashing all around.

The shore is near; a rocky beach where passerbies have already chipped the rocks into the perfect sitting spots. Masi perches himself on his favorite one. It’s a bit more out in the sea, far from the actual beach and anyone who’d be taking this lovely day for a stroll by the waves.

His talons dig into the scratched-up rock and his wings come to a stop. He sits down on it, making himself comfortable. His wings will need a little preening , since the wind had pushed some of the feathers in the wrong direction and Masi keeps flinching involuntarily every time he notices the uncomfortable feeling.

For now, though, it’s lunch time!

He tears into the fish, gobbling at the sweet meal and making pleased groans. Truly a great catch, even if he’s the one saying that. He’s just about finished with the whole mean when a head pops up from the water, obviously irritated and glaring daggers at him.

“Hey! Why the hell do you keep stealing my prey?!” the merman hisses, ear fins flattening against his head in his anger.

“Did the fish have your name on it?” Masi asks, throwing the last remaining piece of the fish up in the air, catching it in his beak with expertise.

“This is my fishing spot,” the merman proclaims defiantly, bobbing in the water. “You can’t just come in and start stealing all the fish or else we’re going to have a problem.”

Masi regards the merman, his narrowed eyes, hair plastered to his forehead, but he doesn’t get a very good look, since the sea dweller dunks and disappears underwater, only leaving behind circles on the surface.

The avian blinks at the sea for a moment; no one had ever confronted him about something like this. Avians don’t have a set hunting ground, as they all tend to move around a lot. He hadn’t had much experience with mermen, though. He didn’t know much, just that they usually look breathtaking - and this one certainly had; alabaster skin with eyes of pure magenta and fins tinted a soft hue of purple and black.

Oh well.

He outstretches one wing, reaching over and starting to preen the feathers, pulling them into their right places. Down here, the wind is calmer, just a breeze that makes them rustle softly.

The avian takes a deep breath, enjoying the smell of salty waves hanging in the air. Nothing bothers him anymore as he finishes preening.

* * *

There he is again.

A clawed hand grips at a rock, scratching its surface as the merman holds himself steady. One of the pilot fish passes in front of him and obscures his vision, so he waves it off mindlessly. They like to swarm around him and even carry pieces of coral behind. He doesn’t mind them, even enjoys their presence, just not when they obstruct his sight.

Through the ever moving surface, the avian gliding over the sea is distorted, but not enough that he couldn’t recognize the white of his hair or the creamy feathers spreading wide to catch the air.

The merman’s eyes narrow, and then fall down, roaming the various fish swimming past, carefree and unnoticing of the multiple predators keeping their eyes peeled. There’s a flock of the best tasting fish just a little ways off, swimming for the coral wall by the shore.

He’s not letting that avian bastard steal even one of them again.

Mind made up, the merman flaps his powerful tail, the purple-black tinted scales glittering in the distorted light shining from overhead. The fin at its end, even as scratched and scarred as it is, sends the pilot fish scattering with ease. While they are stunned — and it’s not that long, as they are used to his quick whims — he speeds off, water moving out of his way as if to help him move faster. His lithe body moves with nothing less than grace, back fin pressed backwards, bobbing with the current.

The fish don’t suspect anything and he doesn’t have the smallest problem catching the last one of the flock in his mouth. His teeth sink into its body, the sweet, sweet taste of blood exploding on his tongue. The rest of them disperse, sensing the danger. However, they aren’t fast enough and one is captured in the beak that comes out of nowhere, snatching it out of the water.

Esper watches it, as it disappears into a blur behind the disrupted surface. Anger boils within him, courses through his veins, and he’s breaking the surface before he really knows it.

The avian is back at the shore already, in the same spot as the day before. Esper moves, swimming with ease until he’s right there next to the rock, holding onto it and looking up at the bird.

“Didn’t I tell you to go away?” he growls, gills flaring as his lungs kick into overdrive, switching to breathing air instead.

“And why should I?” the avian bites back. They both set down their fish for now. “I like it here, and what can you do to make me leave?”

‘This guy’s gall!’ Esper thinks, glaring daggers at him. “Like I said, this is my spot! You’ve no right to be here!”

“Are the fish really that big of a deal? There are a lot of them; see, we both have lunch.” The avian motions to the fish laid on the rock with a wing. “You even have some following you.”

Esper glances down to see the pilot fish have already caught up to him; they’re swarming around his tail, brushing against the scales softly. He’s so used to them that he doesn’t even notice them anymore. His cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“W-Well, this is my place though!” Esper protests, though it’s half-hearted, because the avian is right. He’s been careful about this place, kept it nice and good, made sure the fish were healthy and plentiful.

The avian cocks his head, in that weird way they do. It seems very unnatural and almost painful, but he knows it isn’t.

“Are you fish really this territorial?”

“I’m not a fish, I’m a merman!”

The avian chuckles, as if he’d expected nothing less. “Yes, yes, I can see that. Why are you so protective of this place, though? Do you do this with everyone, or do you just not like me being here?”

Esper falls silent. He must admit that having another person to talk to would be nice, even if they were someone like this bird, just swooping into his territory out of nowhere. The territorial part of him still screams, concerned for all the fish around, but he decides to give this bird a chance. For now.

“No, I just… don’t like your rudeness. Is it normal for birds to just come into someone’s place and act at home?”

“I’m not a bir—” Esper grins devilishly, eyes sparkling as the avian catches himself, eyes narrowing. He obviously fights with himself before his next words. “Join me for lunch.”

With a wing, he points to the fish waiting to be devoured, sitting between them.

The merman looks at the sea, checking the fish flock, and then back at the avian. “I… guess I could,” he mumbles.

The avian scoots to the side, making space for Esper to pull himself up onto the rock. They both have more than enough space, but they still shy away from each other. The avian starts chipping away at his own fish, chucking it into the air and catching it in his beak without a stutter. Esper joins in, picking up the fish and biting into it, tearing strips of meat with his shark-like teeth.

They fall into a somewhat comfortable silence while they eat. When he’s finished, Esper starts throwing the leftover bones into the water.

The fish start flocking at them, picking the leftovers apart and even poking their heads out of the water as they beg Esper for more. He keeps throwing the bones until there are no more left at all. Even so, the fish keep begging, making the merman smile at their eagerness.

He looks to the side at the bird, biting at his bottom lip. He doesn’t know what to say. So, choosing instead to stay completely quiet, he pushes himself off of the stone and slips back underwater.

By the time the avian notices his departure, he’s already far beneath the surface, circled by his ever loyal pilot fish. They ease his confused emotions, keep him company as he heads home into his cove, as far away from the shore and the avian presumably still sitting there, enjoying his catch.

* * *

The pilot fish have very soft scales and are very cuddly. Esper doesn’t notice this anymore, usually, but sometimes — like this morning — there is nothing else to focus on and he is pleasantly reminded of this fact when he gives the little swarm all of his attention. They fight each other over his pets, slithering between his fingers and tickling the webs connecting them. He tries his best to give each of them an equal amount of his attention, but it’s very hard, as there are so many of them mingling around and they look almost identical.

There was no food to share that morning, so he knew they were only there for the affection. Oh how he loves these fish.

The flock disperses momentarily as a loud caw echoes overhead, scaring them and forcing Esper to look up. There he is again, the white bird, soaring close enough to the surface for him to be able to discern the feathers.

Esper pets the closest fish once again before swimming towards the shore. He breaks the surface just as the avian lands on his favorite rock. The merman brings one hand up to wave a hello.

Masi looks down at him and cocks an eyebrow before laughing quietly. “You might want to put your hair accessory back in the water before it suffocates.”

Esper perks up, confused, reaching a hand up and patting along his water-matted hair until his webbed fingers curl around a stray pilot fish still nestled between locks of his hair. Gingerly, he sets the striped fish off and plops it back into the water where it merrily swims away, towards its pack. Esper watches it scurry off almost fondly, and it only causes Masi to laugh more.

“You have a strange taste in hair ornaments,” the avian tells him.

Esper freezes up, bobbing on the surface. “My tastes are just fine!” he growls, thinking about his dream headdress.

He’d given up on that dream a long time ago; he hasn’t see another merperson in a long time, and one that he’d liked, or at least tolerated, even longer. His taste in headdresses is irrelevant now, he’ll never get one or have anyone to give one to. His ear fins lower in dejection.

“Anyway, why are you here so early? It’s not even lunchtime yet.”

Masi’s feathers fluff up momentarily before he scoots to the side. “Yes, well…” he mutters, “I’ve wanted to be with you longer today.”

Esper blinks, stunned, while Masi hides his face into the feathers near his neck so Esper can’t see the redness spreading in his cheeks.

“Wow, that’s… I… didn’t expect to hear that,” Esper confesses. “But, ah, sorry to burst your bubble, but I can’t get out of the water and do… anything, really.”

“I know that!” Masi cries exasperatedly, huffing. He pats the smooth rock next to himself. “Join me, we can chat for a while.”

The merman’s eyes sparkle faintly as he blinks, but he heaves himself onto the rock without a comment. His multicolored scales glimmer in the sunlight as they dry. It leaves a borderline itchy feeling all over his body and his gills flutter out of their own volition, but he’s used to the feeling at this point and it isn’t too hard to ignore it.

When they sit in somewhat uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, only gazing at the waves and seagulls flying by, Esper finally opens his mouth.

“Why did you come to talk if you just stay silent?”

Masi jumps as if Esper had just accused him of stealing the most precious pearl. “Ah… Truth be told, I just can’t think of anything to talk about.”

“But you were the one who told me to come chat?”

“I didn’t think you’d agree. That’s why I— didn’t think it through…”

Masi had seen a lot of Esper’s expressions so far; the merman is very expressive and with his razor-sharp, pointed teeth, his faces leave even more of an impression. But he’s sure he hadn’t seen this one yet. Esper looks genuinely puzzled, brows drawn together and mouth a tiny bit open. It looks adorable.

“Why wouldn’t I agree?” Esper asks Masi, who, in turn, turns silent.

Why would Esper say no? It’s not like he ever said he disliked Masi’s company, nor did there seem to be any other people — mer or otherwise — around to keep Esper busy. Still, he’d been anxious, and couldn’t even explain it. “Ah…”

“It’s because I was a bit harsh on you before, wasn’t I?” Esper chuckles, “Sorry about that.”

Masi doesn’t have an answer for such a heartfelt apology, and the silence stretches between them. It is a bit less uncomfortable this time, though.

“So,” Esper pipes up at last, breaking it yet again. “Have you visited many places?”

Masi is infinitely glad for the chat topic. He starts talking about all the islands he’d visited on his flights before. He’d come to like this one the most, however, but before, he always flew in from the other side. That’s probably why he hadn’t run into Esper at all before this.

In turn, Esper tells him about all the beautiful underwater places his territory has — both of the coves, the rock formations by the coral reef, the sunken ships filled with treasures…

The sun warms them as they chatter, soaring through the sky. Esper has to slip back into the water when he gets too dry. He bobs in front of Masi, hair floating on the surface, only wet at the longer ends and instead sticking up in random directions on the top.

Masi has the urge to touch it; to know whether it is as soft as it looks to be. He pushes the thought away, instead focusing on Esper’s vivid description of one of the sunken ships, covered in moss and filled with coral. Apparently a lot of ‘fishies’ use it as their home. It’d be nice to see it, he thinks.

Then, he tells Esper about the island’s highest mountain, what a great view it offers, how sharp the wind gets there. Esper’s expression turns a little dreamy and Masi wonders if he also thought about how it would be to visit it.

Maybe if they both were humans, they could meet on the land instead of like this. But they aren’t, so it’s impossible to go to the sunken ship, or to the mountain peak.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Esper asks seemingly out of nowhere. Masi looks at the sea, watches as a flock of fish pass right by them. Ah, that’s probably why Esper had asked.

“Yes, I guess so.”

“Let’s catch something good for lunch!” Esper says excitedly, making a flip with his tail and disappearing under the surface.

Masi smiles, spreads his wings, and follows suit.

* * *

The pads of Esper’s fingers run along the seashell in his hands; soft pink and shining from all the rubbing he’d done. He looks at it from each angle, making sure it’s perfect, before he ties it with a little bit of kelp onto the ring of a crown.

The crown, made out of sturdy pieces of kelp and littered with various seashells, pink clams and white conches, is just about the right size to fit on his head. He made sure to pick the right sizes of shells, altering them each repeat. It took a long time to find shells of the perfect sizes and colors, and then to polish them to a shine, but it had been worth it, he thinks. The crown looks good, the colors complement each other and the shells hold perfectly.

All that’s left is to give it to Masi.

Esper’s heart hammers in his chest at the thought and he cradles the crown to his chest, careful not to squish it. He didn’t think he would ever give anyone a headdress, or even make one, but… he did, he made one. He’s holding it in his hands, it’s real.

It had felt a little less haunting because he knows Masi isn’t familiar with the merman way of courting, and he might not even understand how important this crown is to Esper. Though, just as relieving as it is, it’s just as disappointing. He wants Masi to know what this means, he doesn’t want to explain, he doesn’t want to not explain.

Mustering up his resolve, he looks at the pilot fish for reassurance. They can’t speak, of course, but they do look at him in a peculiar way. He takes it as reassurance. Close enough to it anyway. The merman nods and propels himself towards the shore.

He does a double take when he arrives at the rock, sure he had actually arrived at the wrong place. The rock is covered in a layer of twigs and leaves, arranged to be stable and not fall apart, even as he hoists himself up to get a better look at the shore. No, this is Masi’s favorite rock, without a doubt.

But what had happened to it? None of this had been here last night!

He places the crown in the middle of the rock and slips back into the water. Masi is nowhere to be seen, and Esper is starting to feel self conscious about his attempt to give Masi a courting headdress.

He’ll just talk to him when the bird shows up, he guesses.

Though he doesn’t hear the distinct cawing until the sun has set. He swims his way to the shore right away, but as he near it, he sees something floating in the waves. It doesn’t click right away that it is the crown he had so meticulously made, at least not until he’s holding it.

When he pops up by the rock again, the mesh of twigs is even bigger, and has a shallow wall. Masi is nestled in the middle of it, looking down at him with an expectant and somewhat anxious expression.

Esper returns his gaze with drawn brows. “I found this floating in the water,” he mutters, holding the crown up.

“Yeah, somebody must’ve dropped their sea garbage into my nest,” Masi replies. “But look, I’ve been making this all day, it’s a—”

Masi falls silent when he sees Esper’s shoulders sag, and the fact that he holds the crown close to his chest.

“Sea garbage?” Esper repeats dejectedly, “I… made this for you.”

“What?”

“I thought… Never mind. I’ll… go ahead and get rid of this sea garbage for you,” Esper says, dropping the hand that is holding the kelp and shell headdress.

“Wait! Esper!”

The merman doesn’t reply and instead disappears underwater with a large splash of his tail.

Masi is left in his newly built nest, one wing outstretched and an expression of regret on his face.

* * *

The merman doesn’t come back, not even the next day. Masi waits, but there’s no sign of white hair anywhere, not even a trace of the striped blue fish always following after him.

He must’ve really upset him, but Masi still doesn’t understand how. Was a stupid shell crown really that important?

He doesn’t get mermen. And even after creating a nest for Esper! He didn’t even wait for Masi to give it to him!

He can remember, there’s a merman living by the nearby island whom he’s on good terms with, so maybe he could help him understand why the hell Esper doesn’t show his pretty face to him anymore.

It pains him to leave the nest alone and unguarded, but he gets over it. At least by the time half of his flight is behind him. The island comes into view, with its tall trees and large beach. It doesn’t have a rocky shore like Esper’s, so he just lands in the sand.

A loud caw tears from his throat, echoing with the unresting waves. He waits not-so-patiently until the merman he’d come to see pops up, lilac tail coming into view before the white haired head comes out of the water with a large splash.

“Masi!” Lusa greets him, “It’s been a while! What brings you here?”

Masi nods in response, folding his wings carefully so he doesn’t get them all covered in sand. “I need to ask you about something.”

Lusa cocks his head to the side and his gills flutter with laughter. “That’s unlike you. Aren’t you the know-all out of us two?”

The avian offers no words, just a glare. Lusa holds up webbed hands in mock surrender, but he is still chuckling to himself.

“What’s the deal with you and headdresses?”

Lusa’s cheeks color with a faint tone of pink and he stammers out,  "M-Me?“

"No, I mean, like. All you mermen.”

“Oh! Ooh! You don’t know? It’s the most important thing. We give it to another merperson to ask them to be our mate. It usually takes a lot of time to craft them… I mean they should be pretty, it’s almost like humans and their engagement rings. I once found an engagement ring in a sunken ship. It was covered in small gems! You wouldn’t believe how pretty it was!”

Lusa devolves into a detailed description of the ring and how he’d given it to another merman, but Masi had already stopped listening by that point. Actually, he’d zoned out when Lusa mentioned mates.

_Oh no._

“Thank you, Lusa,” he says, spreading his wings and taking off, leaving the poor merman confused, mouth still open as he’d stopped in the middle of a sentence.

“You’re welcome, I guess,” Lusa mutters to himself, shaking his head and sending droplets of water flying in every direction. He’ll probably never understand the avian.

* * *

He doesn’t think it will work, but he caws anyway, as loudly as he can. So loudly that some birds fly away from their spots perched in the trees, in fact.  
  
The echo of his cry fades away in a few seconds, and he’s again surrounded by nothing but the sound of waves crashing mercilessly against the rocks. But then, just as he starts to lose the tiny shred of hope he’d been harboring, a head covered in white hair pops up before him.   
  
Esper’s face is set into an uneasy look, eyes not even looking at him, but to the side. “What do you want?” the merman mutters. He does look bad, like he’d been having trouble sleeping. A pang of guilt strikes at Masi’s heart.   
  
“Can you… close your eyes for a moment?” Masi pleads, talons nervously shifting, “Please.”  
  
Esper’s eyes narrow for a moment, finally looking at him. But Esper complies and closes his eyes in the end.   
  
There’s a flock of fish around him, and when Masi reaches out with a talon, he is almost scared they are going to jump at him. He gently sets the thing he’d been holding onto Esper’s head and backs up. “You can open your eyes now.”  
  
Esper does so, blinking. He immediately brings a hand up and takes the thing off of his head to take a look at it.   
  
He’s holding a crown, similar to the one he’d made himself. Dark kelp builds the base and there’s pink colored shells lemming the sides. He even spies pears dotting the kelp in random places. It’s simple yet elegant.   
  
The merman looks up at the avian and opens his mouth to ask, “What?”   
  
Masi takes a deep breath and recalls the apology he’d been repeating to himself all day. “I didn’t know the headdress was from you, or what it meant. I didn’t mean to hurt you, and I didn’t mean to refuse you. I was too excited to show you the nest I’ve built. I’m sorry, Esper.”   
  
Esper stares at him silently, then looks down at the nest, and then at the crown in his hands. “It’s a beautiful crown,” he says finally, “Are you sure you want me to have it?”   
  
“I wouldn’t give it to you otherwise.”  
  
Esper twists around and disappears under the surface in one fluid movement.  
  
“Wai-” Masi cries, but he doesn’t even have enough time to start panicking property before Esper comes back, this time with two kelp crowns in his hands. He holds the original one out; all the anxiety falls off of Masi in a giant wave and he leans down so the merman can place it onto his head. In turn, he gently pries the other one out of Esper’s hands and puts it onto his wet hair, brushing the strands sticking to his face away.   
  
“Do you know what this means…?” Esper asks softly, his breath fanning over Masi’s face at the close proximity.   
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Esper breaks out into a giant grin, resting his forehead against Masi’s and leaving tiny kisses along his beak. Masi’s heart flutters at the sweet gesture and he nuzzles back.   
  
“This nest is for you,” he says, moving to the side to let Esper see it all.  
  
There’s a small pile of fruit laying in the middle, and, as expected, Esper points to it, asking with a twinge of excitement, “What’s that?”   
  
“I brought some fruit from the island, I’m sure you haven’t had fruit this good yet. Try it!” Masi prompts, helping Esper up over the nest’s edge so the merman can lay on the soft mossy surface.   
  
Esper grabs a banana and Masi has to show him how to even peel it before Esper’s able to taste it. When the first gulp goes down Esper’s throat and his eyes widen with wonder, almost shining in the sunlight, Masi knows all the work had been more than worth it. Building the nest, collecting pretty seashells for the crown, asking Lusa for help, collecting fruit, all of it.   
  
Maybe they’ve gotten off on a bad note, and maybe the differences between their species made for some obstacles, but it’s not like they couldn’t get over that. Anything seems possible when Esper looks at him, half-dried strands of hair fluttering in the wind, seashell crown placed on his head and that wide, cheerful smile that Masi fell in love with on his lips.


End file.
